Broken Fairytales (37 page)

“I thought you’d never ask,” he said, as he easily grabbed the keys from my skirt.

As if I weighed nothing, he lifted me over the console and dropped me into the passenger seat, climbing in next to me and starting the car before I could even get my seatbelt on. Before I knew it, we were flying across the island to the secluded spot he loved so much.

“There’s a blanket
and towels
in the back,” I said, as I discarded my heels and started to head down the stairs alone.

“You’re not going to wait for me?” Zack called out.

“You know the way,” I said, when I was halfway down.

By the time he caught up with me, I was already at the entrance to the cave. Zack did a double-take
as his eyes drifted down my body
, bathed in the light from the moon overhead
,
to my discarded
clothes on the sand.

“Black lace
,” he said, dropping what he was carrying
and crossing the sand to me. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“God, it’s just so hot,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck
in what I hoped was a seductive manner
. “I think I’m going to go for a swim.”

I took off down the beach before Zack realized what was happening, discarding my bra and panties along the way. I felt exposed for about thirty seconds before the cool water rushed over me and covered my nakedness. Zack, having undressed in record time, was behind me a few seconds later
, his hard body pressed against me
. I spun in his arms and looked up at him.

“Princess, I don’t think you realize what you do
to me,” he said. “Do you know
how incredible sexy you are?”

“I can guess by the way you keep looking at me.”

Thank God I was buzzed or I would have been really embarrassed about saying that, but I didn’t have time to dwell on that thought for very long.

“Looking at you isn’t all I’m going to do,”
he said then as he lifted me and settled my legs around his waist
as the waves gently rolled in around us
.

***

“Seriously, what got into you tonight,” Zack asked, as we lay
on the blanket
at the mouth of the cave
, wrapped up in the towels
I’d brought, looking up at the millions of stars overhead.
Every now and then his lips would land on my shoulder, s
ending electric currents down to
my stomach and beyond.

“Hey, you’re the one who insisted on giving me a playbook on how the night was to enfold with
those sexy drinks you kept making –
I just went along with your suggestions.”

He laughed. “I never expected you to be so literal, but I’m so glad you were. Please assume that I’ll continue to make subtle insinuations as I see fit, because holy shit that was fun.”

“Come on, you
don’t
use that trick on all the girls y
ou meet?
” I teased. “Tell me you haven’t used alcohol and this secluded beach to lure women
before
?
”

“You make me sound like a sex offender,” Zack scoffed.

I lau
ghed. “No, seriously, t
hat was a pretty sneaky seduction maneuver.
You had to have practiced it before.
”

“
S
orry, first time I ever tried it. You inspired me with your request for a sexy drink. It’s too bad you’re such a lightweight, because I could have
made tonight’s
playbook a little more interesting
with all the potentially suggestive drinks I could make
.”

“I think it was plenty interesting,” I said, as I ran my hand over his bare stomach. “Besides, who said the
game’s
over?”

“See, this is what I meant b
y mysterious. Just when I think you’re going to do one thing, you do something else entirely. You are not the same girl who skittishly hopped on the back of my bike a few days ago. What gives?”

He could read me too well.
I twisted so I was facing him, my head propped up on my elbow. “Honestly?”

He nodded.

“Wh
en I didn’t hear from you
for a few days
, I was afraid I might have scared you away. I know
my announcement the other day sort of freaked you out
, so I wanted to be sure you
really
knew I
wasn’t looking for anything serious
.”

“So you
figured
leather and skinny-dipping would do the trick?”

“Did you not like it?” I asked teasingly.

Zack laughed. “Oh, no, I definitely liked it. It just not you – not that I wouldn’t want you
to do it again, multiple times –
but
I know it’s not you.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “How do you know it’s not me?”

“Because you’re a good girl,” he said
simply
,
as he landed his lips on my shoulder once more,
and I felt like smacking him.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked, sitting up abruptly, the words ‘good girl’ grating on the inside of my ears.

“Hey,” Zack said, sitting up with me. “I didn’t mean that as a bad thing, okay.”

“Then how did you mean it?” I ask tersely. “Because, from where I’m sitting, next to a guy who drives a motorcycle,
is pierced and tattooed to high hell,
who professed to having slight alcoholic tendencies
,
and who has girls who could pose in
Playboy
throwing themselves at him on a regular basis, I’m thinking ‘good girls’ like m
e
probably aren’t your thing, so forgive me for
thinking you
wouldn’t
want to be with someone like me
.”

Zack
head fell back in exasperation, and for a minute I thought I’d taken things too far
.
When he lifted his head
, he
glanced at me for a second before shifting his gaze to the ocean.

“Stereotype much?” he asked, sha
king his head, his eyes locked on a distant point.

“Hey, I know the kind of girls who are into my brother, and you’re not much different from him. You’re a bad boy, Zack, and I’m fine with it. Hell, I think it’s hot, but come on. You and I don’t exactly go together, so I figured I’d do something to change that.”

When he finally l
ooked over at me, there was
coldness in his eyes, but it didn’t seem to be
completely
directed at me.
“
I never ask you to change who you are,” he s
aid softly
, and he looked incredibly hurt that I’d assume that
.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the guilt I felt for judging him and assuming he wanted me to change for him washed over me like a tidal wave. Nothing he’d done since I’d met him had given me any reason to believe he didn’t like me just as I was, so why was I being overly sensitive? I was pretty sure I knew the answer to that question.

“I know you didn’t,” I said, looking down, the guilt eating away at me.

“
And just because I own a Harley, have a few tattoos and
one
pierci
ng,
doesn’t mean I’m a ‘bad boy’,”
he said, his eyes ablaze with
conviction.
“So if you figured yo
u might go slumming this summer in an effort to
try something new
and reinvent yourself
,
I’m not your guy.”

My mouth dropped open. “No, Zack,” I said, shaking my head. “
That wasn’t my intention. I never thought that.”

Zack didn’t respond to me at first, and I was afraid I’d really pissed him off. His jaw was set and his gaze was fixed on the rocks we’d climbed over to get to his spot.
I wondered how much he wanted to get up and leave in that mom
ent and I really hoped he wouldn’t
.

“Just so you know,” he said calmly, and it seemed like he was fighting to keep his emotions in check. “
I haven’t been that kind of guy
– a ‘bad boy’ as you put it –
f
or a long time, and if you’d been paying attention tonight, you’d know that I was polite and cordial to those girls, but not once did I engage in any type of reciprocated flirtation. As you demanded, my mind was in one
place
, and a much as I appreciated what you were wearing, I would have been fine if you
’d
had
on
jeans and flip-flops.”

“I know, Zack. I’m sorry,” I said,
after a few beats,
looking over at him
in an effort to gauge how mad he was
.

“I like you, Emily,” he said, catching my gaze, the intensity in his eyes apparent
.
“I like you for you. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

“I know,” I said,
looking down again
as a new wave of guilt washed over me
.

He leaned over and pulled me against him,
taking me by surprise
as
his lips
,
hungry for mine
,
kissed me
with more intensity
than I’d ever felt from him. It was as
if he was pouring his previous emotions into that moment
and
that kiss, in an effort to show me just how he felt
.

“Just do me a favor,” he said, when he broke the kiss, his gaze burning a hole through me. “Don’t lose sight of who you are.
Don’t do it
.”

“Okay,” I said, not sure what he was getting at
. H
is words
were
fierce and determined
, and I didn’t know what was fueling them
.

He shook his head a few times, as if frustrated with my level of comprehension. “
Emily,
I know you’re dealing with a lot and trying to figure out who you want to be, but just know that t
here’s nothing wrong with being a good person and doing the right things
in life
. Just from getting to know you
these past few weeks
,
I
can tell you I
like the person you are when you’re vulnerable and honest and not trying to force yourself
into some mold
.
That girl is sweet and kind, and she’s a ‘good girl’, and I like her because of that.”

I opened my mouth to
protest
, but he stopped me.

“No. Just hear me out. I get that you feel like you were stunted somehow
,
and you have to make up for all the times when you played it safe in life,
and that’s okay,
but don’t lose sight of who you truly are
while you’re doing
that
.
”

I shook my head. “Who I was
,
was boring and cautious and scared
. I
don’t want to be that person again.
I want to be fun and take risks and not care so much. I want to be the girl I was tonight, who didn’t care what people thought about her, who had confidence and wasn’t constantly weighing the outcome of ever
y
decision she made. I was trying to be the girl you told me I should be.
”

Zack leaned his head back against the rock frustration. “The girl you were tonight was fun and brazen and sexy as hell, but it pisses me off that you were trying so hard to be her, because you thought that’s what I wanted.”

“So, you didn’t like it?” I said, confused and irritated by his conflicting statement
s
.

“No, I loved it,
because I thought
it was an act. It was dress up. I
t was you having fun and letting go. If I thought for one second that you were doing it because you felt you had to change for me, I would have driven you straight home to change your clothes.”

I threw my hands up in frustration. “I don’t know what you want from me!”

“I want you to be who
you
want to b
e. Stop trying so hard
and just be happy
! If you want to drink, drink, if you don’t, don’t. If you want to
hole up in your room and read a book instead of going to a party, then own it. Have the confidence to be who you are, and allow others the courtesy of being who they are, without judgment. I think you’ll find that you’re a lot happier when you do, but if you want to make your life more interesting, t
hen do the
right
things in life
to be more i
nteresting, Emily
, because a
t the end of the day, you can’t change who you’ve been for twenty-one years overnight. And if you go to such extremes to try to do that, you’ll wake up one day even more lost that you were to begin with, and it’s
not
a fun place to be.
”